College hires new soccer coach

Aug. 13 — George Kee began his new job as the Lassen Community College men’s soccer coach last week and has already assembled a team and set high goals for the upcoming season.

Kee is originally from San Antonio, Texas where he has been playing and coaching soccer for the past several years.

Before becoming a coach, he played soccer as a child and in high school, then moved on to play four years in college in Austin, Texas. After college, he began coaching with a division of the United Soccer League Super-20 League.

While he has visited Southern California on vacations before, this is his first time in Northern California.

“It’s beautiful,” he said.

Kee started in his new position last Monday and began practicing with the team Tuesday. With the season starting at the end of this month, you might think Kee would be overwhelmed with the amount of work he has to do between now and then. However, he says it’s been a lot less stressful than one might expect.

“It seems like things are going to work out well for the season. We should still be able to compete well and not miss a step from last year,” he said.

The team already has 18 players, and he says more are joining every day.

So far there is one sophomore, Truitt Evans, and one local player, Jesus Garibo, who was a star player on last year’s Lassen High School varsity boy’s soccer team.

“It’s looking pretty good. The boys are confident. All the boys can play, and just from speaking with Truitt and seeing the talent they had last year and the teams they’ve been playing against, it seems like we shouldn’t miss a step,” Kee said.

While the team is undergoing a lot of changes this season, from a new coach to lots of new players, Kee doesn’t want the transition to affect the Cougars’ competitive edge.

For the complete story, see the Tuesday, Aug. 12 edition of the Lassen County Times.